BMW, the world’s largest maker of luxury vehicles, and
HeidelbergCement, the third-biggest cement maker, rallied at
least 3 percent. MAN SE (MAN) surged 7 percent as Volkswagen AG (VOW)
received the final regulatory approval needed to take a majority
stake in the truckmaker.

The DAX Index (DAX) gained 2.8 percent to 6,133.18 at the close
in Frankfurt. The gauge has still fallen 19 percent from this
year’s high on May 2 amid concern global economic growth is
slowing and policy makers are struggling to contain Europe’s
debt crisis. The broader HDAX Index (HDAX) also rose 2.8 percent today.

“Markets are optimistic that there may not be a
referendum,” said Markus Wallner, an equity strategist at
Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “This means for investors that
things can go on as planned, without interference from
Papandreou that threatened the bailout plan.”

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou signaled he won’t
call a referendum on the euro-are rescue package agreed on Oct.
26 as it may call into question Greece’s membership of the euro.
He said the country belongs in the currency bloc and welcomed
support shown by the main opposition New Democracy party for the
bailout deal.

In the U.S., Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke
signaled additional monetary stimulus may be needed to lower
U.S. unemployment as policy makers projected little acceleration
in growth after last quarter’s pickup.

Potential actions are “on the table,” including a third
round of securities purchases, extending the period of record-
low interest rates or being more specific about when rates
would rise, Bernanke said at a press conference yesterday after
European markets closed.

Bernanke warned that economic improvement will probably be
“frustratingly slow,” with policy makers forecasting a 1
percentage-point drop in the jobless rate to about 8 percent
over two years.

Earnings before interest and taxes rose 44 percent to 1.72
billion euros from 1.19 billion euros a year earlier. That
topped the average 1.58 billion-euro analyst estimate.

HeidelbergCement added 3.5 percent to 33.54 euros after
third-quarter profit exceeded analyst estimates as sales grew
faster than anticipated in markets like Indonesia. Operating
income fell 2 percent to 562 million euros, beating the average
estimate of 546.6 million euros in a Bloomberg survey.

MAN surged 7 percent to 67.46 euros as Volkswagen received
the final regulatory approval needed to take a majority stake in
the company. Chinese competition authorities have given the go-
ahead for VW to increase its MAN holding to 55.9 percent of the
voting rights. Volkswagen rose 2.9 percent to 130.85 euros.

Metro AG (MEO) rallied 9 percent to 36.56 euros, the largest gain
since September. Germany’s biggest retailer said it’s confident
it can meet a target of 5 percent earnings growth this year, or
10 percent if Christmas business is “considerably better” than
a year ago.

Q-Cells SE (QCE), the German solar cell and module maker, soared
25 percent to 91.5 euro cents after winning a contract to build
a solar park in Brandenburg-Briest, Germany, with a capacity of
91 megawatts. It will be the largest photovoltaic park in
Europe, according to the company.

Rheinmetall AG (RHM) sank 7.6 percent to 35.12 euros as it said
it won’t stage an initial public offering of its automotive
unit, citing stock-market declines.